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tkatt20's reviews
99 reviews
The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
The first time I read this book I only made it about 20 pages before losing interest, so I figured I owed this book another shot. I didn't really go into this book with many expectations so I wasn't really disappointed by anything or felt like it didn't live up to my expectations, I just wasn't as into it as I would have hoped.
I liked the characters well enough but I didn't feel like there were any I could trust enough to love or get attached to which makes it hard for me to want to keep reading. I did find the characters interesting in their own sense though, I was expecting the main character, Jude, to be more of a cookie-cutter female heroin like a lot of very popular YA books, but that wasn't the case. She is very morally gray -much like many characters in this book- and makes decisions you wouldn't really expect someone like her to make. I do love a good morally gray character, I just wasn't expecting it at all and some of those decisions seemed to come out of left field, like all her character development from the first few chapters went right out the window and all of a sudden she's practically a villain in this story. For someone who is constantly surrounded by vicious fairies and does not possess the heightened abilities they have, she certainly evaded death more than she should have. Cardan wasn't anything extremely special to me, he just seemed like any other male character in a female lead fantasy novel: mysterious, hot, and for some reason hates the main character. Honestly, the only character I was really interested in was Jude's sister Vivian. I feel like I would have enjoyed reading a story from her POV.
The world building was alright but I found it extremely difficult to picture the characters and settings. With them being from this fantastical world there are other creatures involved that I just couldn't picture. We also don't get much information in terms of where Faerie is in relation to the human world, just that it is easy enough for the characters to travel there. The plot itself was good but so much happened that it felt like I was getting whiplash. Jude went from one goal to the next in the span of 3 chapters and it didn't make sense to me. I was very confused for the first half of the book until the story finally calmed down enough to have a steady plot.
Maybe I just missed the targeted demographic for this because I can see why people love this series so much, I just didn't like it nearly as much as I had hoped. It all seemed very fairy-tale like to me which isn't usually my go to story type but it is perfect for others who do enjoy that. Overall I didn't think that the book was bad, I just didn't love it either. It did suck me in enough to want to read the next book though, which I've heard is better so I will keep reading the series based on that and hopefully realize that I judged this book too harshly.
I liked the characters well enough but I didn't feel like there were any I could trust enough to love or get attached to which makes it hard for me to want to keep reading. I did find the characters interesting in their own sense though, I was expecting the main character, Jude, to be more of a cookie-cutter female heroin like a lot of very popular YA books, but that wasn't the case. She is very morally gray -much like many characters in this book- and makes decisions you wouldn't really expect someone like her to make. I do love a good morally gray character, I just wasn't expecting it at all and some of those decisions seemed to come out of left field, like all her character development from the first few chapters went right out the window and all of a sudden she's practically a villain in this story. For someone who is constantly surrounded by vicious fairies and does not possess the heightened abilities they have, she certainly evaded death more than she should have. Cardan wasn't anything extremely special to me, he just seemed like any other male character in a female lead fantasy novel: mysterious, hot, and for some reason hates the main character. Honestly, the only character I was really interested in was Jude's sister Vivian. I feel like I would have enjoyed reading a story from her POV.
The world building was alright but I found it extremely difficult to picture the characters and settings. With them being from this fantastical world there are other creatures involved that I just couldn't picture. We also don't get much information in terms of where Faerie is in relation to the human world, just that it is easy enough for the characters to travel there. The plot itself was good but so much happened that it felt like I was getting whiplash. Jude went from one goal to the next in the span of 3 chapters and it didn't make sense to me. I was very confused for the first half of the book until the story finally calmed down enough to have a steady plot.
Maybe I just missed the targeted demographic for this because I can see why people love this series so much, I just didn't like it nearly as much as I had hoped. It all seemed very fairy-tale like to me which isn't usually my go to story type but it is perfect for others who do enjoy that. Overall I didn't think that the book was bad, I just didn't love it either. It did suck me in enough to want to read the next book though, which I've heard is better so I will keep reading the series based on that and hopefully realize that I judged this book too harshly.
Můj život u sousedů by Huntley Fitzpatrick
4.0
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's a great lighthearted and fun book throughout the majority of it and I found myself grinning on multiple occasions, the characters are so well written and the whole Garrett family stole my heart. I often find myself hating main female characters because they're portrayed as whiny and helpless but Sam was the total opposite. I could understand her struggle dealing with her mom and her mom's new boyfriend and she handled everything very maturely for being a 17 year old.
My only grievance was that the end felt a little rushed. The timing in the beginning is perfect, it's more of a slow paced journey getting to know the characters and I adored it. But the ending was a bit abrupt. I was so incredibly angry for a while, just feeling Sam's frustration, and even as I'm writing this it still hasn't totally gone away. I would have loved to know more about what happens to the characters after, like if an epilogue was included and wrapped everything up, but unfortunately there wasn't so I was left with my imagination. That would be perfect if I was a fan of open-ended novels, but I prefer a sense of conclusion.
All in all, this was a very fun read and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fun romance and it will definitely be on my list of favorites for a long time.
My only grievance was that the end felt a little rushed. The timing in the beginning is perfect, it's more of a slow paced journey getting to know the characters and I adored it. But the ending was a bit abrupt. I was so incredibly angry for a while, just feeling Sam's frustration, and even as I'm writing this it still hasn't totally gone away. I would have loved to know more about what happens to the characters after, like if an epilogue was included and wrapped everything up, but unfortunately there wasn't so I was left with my imagination. That would be perfect if I was a fan of open-ended novels, but I prefer a sense of conclusion.
All in all, this was a very fun read and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fun romance and it will definitely be on my list of favorites for a long time.
I Am Still Alive by Kate Alice Marshall
5.0
I picked up this book during a trip to the library and I ended up absolutely loving it. It's a fantastic read and so creatively written, I highly suggest this book to anyone looking for a great standalone that will have your heart racing!
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
5.0
This book was recommended to me recently and I was a little worried I wasn't going to like it since I've been in a bit of a reading slump, but it picked up really quickly and I finished it in about 2 days. It's very interesting and fast paced and my heart was racing by the end of the book. I highly recommend if you're interested in starting a new series, I'll be reading the 2nd book in this series as soon as I can!
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
4.0
I picked up this series based on a recommendation and im really enjoying it so far, I'm excited to see where it goes!